ADEN, Yemen
(Xinhua) --About 30 African
immigrants including women, were killed in an airstrike
launched by suspected Saudi-led helicopters on their
boat on the western coast of Yemen, a security official
told Xinhua Friday.

The local Yemeni official
based in the Houthi-controlled western port city of
Hodyada said that a boat carrying more than 30 African
immigrants including women from Somalia all died in the
aerial bombardment by helicopters that occurred late on
Thursday.

Most of the immigrants were coming back voluntarily
from Yemen and heading towards Sudan, Somalia and other
African countries, the security source said.

He added that scores of others managed to escape and
have been rescued after the attack.

Other local sources said that a number of Yemeni
fishermen were killed when the same warplanes struck
their boat near Yemen’s Red Sea Coast.

During the past few weeks, the Saudi-led Arab
coalition intensified airstrikes on areas along Yemen’s
Red Sea Coast in an apparent attempt to support Yemeni
government forces to kick the Shiite Houthi group out of
the port city of Hodyada.

Yemen has been suffering from a civil war and a
Saudi-led military intervention for around two years.
The civil war began after the Houthi militants with
support from forces loyal to the former president ousted
the UN-backed transitional government and occupied
capital Sanaa militarily in September 2014.

The legitimate government controls the south and some
eastern parts, while the Houthi-Saleh alliance controls
the other parts including the capital Sanaa.

The UN has sponsored peace talks between the warring
factions several times, but the factions failed to reach
common ground.

The civil war, ground battles and airstrikes have
already killed more than 10,000 people, half of them
civilians, injured more than 35,000 others and displaced
over two million, according to humanitarian agencies..

UPDATES:

33 Somali refugees
killed in airstrike on boat off Yemen

SANAA Somalia (Xinhua) --At least 33 Somali refugees were killed
and 29 others wounded when a total of 150 refugees
traveling in a boat off the Yemeni coast came under an
air attack, the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) office in Sanaa said on Friday.

The ICRC "is shocked by last night’s attack on a
civilian ship carrying around 150 passengers, including
women and children, near the port of Hodeida," it said
in an emailed statement.

The attack left 33 dead and 29 wounded, while other
passengers are either still missing or under the care of
local authorities, the ICRC said.

"It was a heartbreaking scene. I saw many men, women
and children either killed or horribly wounded," said
Eric Christopher Wyss from the ICRC.

"Survivors told us that many of the passengers were
refugees from Somalia or Yemen, fleeing conflict," he
added.

Houthi-controlled Saba news agency reported that the
Somali refugees came under an air attack late night of
Thursday, blaming a military coalition led by Saudi
Arabia which is having tight control of the Red Sea and
the Strait of Bab al-Mandeb off the western Yemeni
coasts.

There was no comment by the coalition forces yet.

A spokesperson of the International Immigration
Organization office in Sanaa, Sheba al-Muallimy, told
Xinhua that the organization has no hand in coordination
Thursday night’s journey of the Somali refugees.

Al-Muallimy said the organization has learnt very
late that the Somali refugees were travelling to Sudan,
escaping the conflict here in Yemen.

Xinhua conducted the UNHCR Refugees Agency in Sanaa
for comment, but the office in Sanaa said no official is
on duty at the weekend.

Houthis have been controlling north of Yemen,
including Hodeida, after they ousted President Abd-Rabbu
Mansour Hadi in late 2014.

In March 2015, a coalition of Arab armies led by
Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen’s conflict to back Hadi
troops against Houthi fighters, who have seized control
of most of the northern Yemen, including Sanaa, to
restore power to Hadi.

The coalition forces have been imposing tight control
over the Red Sea and strategic strait of Bab al-Mandab
which links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden.

The war has killed more than 10,000 Yemeni people,
half of them civilians, and displaced over two millions,
according to humanitarian agencies..

IOM confirms
deadly attack on refugee boat off Yemen

GENEVA Switzerland (Xinhua)
--The International
Organization for Migration (IOM) said Friday that 31
Somalis reportedly lost their lives in an alleged
helicopter attack on a refugee boat late on Thursday.

"Our people said they know that Somalis were killed
in ‘an attack,’ they do not know if it was a
helicopter," IOM spokesman Joel Millman told the press
here.

"The press is reporting that it was a helicopter, and
apparently coastguard officials have confirmed it," he
added.

Millman confirmed that the vessel "was full of
Somalis" and that over 80 survivors were rescued. He
warned however that the death toll could be higher since
24 of those saved are in critical conditions.

It remains unclear who carried out the attack on the
vessel which was believed to be bound for Sudan after
setting off from the Yemeni town of Houdaydah..

Saudi-led
coalition intercepts three boats of Houthis

RIYADH Saudi Arabia (Xinhua)
--Saudi-led coalition has
intercepted three boats of Houthis near Midi port in
Yemen trying to attack the coalition’s vessels, Al
Madina local newspaper reported on Friday.

The incident was reported on Thursday night, in which
the coalition destroyed one boat, arrest the crew of the
second, while the third boat managed to escaped.

Meanwhile, the Saudi Press Agency reported that the
royal Saudi air defense forces intercepted a missile
launched by the Houthis militia, targeting Jizan city at
the Saudi-Yemeni border.

Coalition statement said that a missile launched from
inside the Yemeni territories was intercepted and
destroyed by the Saudi forces Friday.

In addition, the coalition air force pinpointed the
launching ground of the missile and, immediately,
retaliated by airstrikes..

UN refugee agency
"appalled" by attack on refugee boat off Yemen

UNITED NATIONS New York
(Xinhua) --The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) on Friday
said that it was "appalled by the deaths of refugees"
after a boat carrying them across the Red Sea from Yemen
to Sudan was reportedly attacked overnight on Thursday.

A UN spokesman told reporters here at a daily news
briefing that although details were still unconfirmed,
"it appears that a number of Somali refugees were among
those killed or injured."

Meanwhile, the conflict in Yemen is continuing along
the Taizz governorate’s western coast and has now moved
into areas adjacent to southern Hudaydah governorate’s
coastal districts, the spokesman noted.

As of March 10, the fighting has resulted in the
displacement of more than 48,000 people, who have
largely sought shelter in more secure areas of Taizz and
Hudaydah, he said.

"In addition, partners are supporting critical
services through assistance to local water networks and
health facilities, as well as offering protection," he
said.

"Access to the most affected areas of Taizz remains
challenging due to ongoing clashes and movement
restrictions imposed by parties to the conflict."

Over the past two years, intense fighting has been
going on between Saudi-backed government forces and
Shiite Houthi rebels in western Yemen.

In September 2014, Houthi rebels, with support from
forces loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh, ousted the
UN-backed transitional government and seized Sanaa, the
capital.

Latest UN figures showed that deliberate war tactics
are accelerating the collapse of key institutions and
the economy, thereby leaving some 18 million people,
more than two thirds of the population, in need of
humanitarian assistance.

An estimated 10 million people are acutely affected
and need some form of immediate humanitarian assistance
to save and sustain their lives, including food, health
and medical services, clean water, sanitation and
protection, according to UN figures..

29 killed in pro-Houthi
strike on mosque in Yemen

ADEN, Yemen (Xinhua) -- About 29 pro-government soldiers
were killed and 89 others injured when missiles fired by
Shiite Houthi gunmen struck a mosque in Yemen’s northern
province of Marib on Friday, a military official told
Xinhua.

According to the local official, the pro-Houthi
forces fired ballistic missiles and struck the mosque
inside a military base of the Saudi-backed Yemeni
government forces in Marib.

Witnesses said that huge fire and smokes were seen
rising from the Kowfal military camp where the attack
happened and many ambulances rushed to the area.

An army commander in Marib province said that the
missile attack occurred while scores of soldiers
gathered to perform Friday prayers inside the mosque.

The oil-producing northern province of Marib is
controlled by Yemen’s legitimate government and
thousands of Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces
stationed there.

The Shiite Houthi group repeatedly fire ballistic
missiles against government-controlled provinces but
most of the attacks were aborted by air defense systems
of the Saudi-led coalition.

Yemen has been suffering from a civil war and a
Saudi-led military intervention for around two years.

The civil war began after the Houthi militants, with
support from forces loyal to the former president,
ousted the UN-backed transitional government and
occupied capital Sanaa militarily in September 2014.

The legitimate government controls the south and some
eastern parts, while the Houthi-Saleh alliance controls
the other parts including the capital Sanaa.

The UN has sponsored peace talks between warring
factions several times, but the factions failed to reach
common ground.

The civil war, ground battles and airstrikes have
already killed more than 10,000 people, half of them
civilians, injured more than 35,000 others and displaced
over two millions, according to humanitarian agencies..

UNITED NATIONS New York
(Xinhua) --The United Nations
is concerned about the escalation of fighting between
Yemeni government forces and the Houthi combatants that
has now reached Hudaydah governorate, UN spokesman
Stephane Dujarric told reporters here Thursday.

"The continued fighting is resulting in the killing
and displacement of civilians and is having a
significant impact on the humanitarian situation,"
Dujarric said at a daily news briefing.

Following the fight in and around Mokha, displacing
48,000 people, a Saudi-led coalition airstrike in Khokha
town on March 10 killed at least 15 civilians, including
three children and injured eight others.

"The UN reiterates that civilians and civilian
property are protected under international humanitarian
law," the spokesman said.

Survey results released on Wednesday highlight that
there are currently 17 million people facing hunger,
representing a 20 percent increase since June 2016, he
said.

"At present, ports of Yemen must remain open,
including Hudaydah port, to allow for both commercial
and humanitarian vessels to import much needed food and
fuel to avert a famine," Dujarric added.

On Feb. 8, the United Nations and humanitarian
partners launched an international appeal on Wednesday
for 2.1 billion U.S. dollars to provide life-saving
assistance to 12 million people in Yemen in 2017.

Since March 2015, violent conflict between two
factions claiming to constitute the Yemeni government
has created a vast crisis in Yemen and millions of
people face threats to their safety and basic human
rights.

Latest UN figures showed that deliberate war tactics
are accelerating the collapse of key institutions and
the economy, thereby leaving some 18 million people,
more than two thirds of the population, in need of
humanitarian assistance.

An estimated 10 million people are acutely affected
and need some form of immediate humanitarian assistance
to save and sustain their lives, including food, health
and medical services, clean water, sanitation and
protection, according to UN figures.

Nearly 3.3 million people, including 2.1 million
children, are acutely malnourished while 2 million
people remain internally displaced.